As amazing at it seemed, she may have picked the right man at the right time. For once.
Chapter Three
Sam sat back, aware that he’d nearly made a very bad mistake. He’d actually thought about kissing her. Even in the best of circumstances, Sierra Carlton was not the sort of woman with whom he could afford to fool around. She was his business partner. Business and romance never mixed well. The repercussions could be fatal, at least to the enterprise. Only a fool would jeopardize a financial setup this good, even if she hadn’t been so smart with her money in the past.
Quickly retreating to the safety of business, Sam said, “We’re burning daylight here. I’d better get out and take a good look at those fields.”
Sierra set down her coffee cup as she rose from her chair. “Finish your coffee while I grab my coat, and we’ll take off.”
He gulped. “You don’t have to go.”
“Oh, I want to. I’ve been looking forward to it.”
He tried not to sound panicked when he asked, “What about your daughter?”
“She’s taken care of. I had Chelsea Grouper stay over last night.”
Sam smiled weakly as she spun out of the room, then hunkered down over his cup. What was wrong with him? He knew how a man had to behave in a business situation. The fact that his partner was a woman shouldn’t make any difference.
Maybe he should start paying some attention to his social life. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. Shoot, he’d never been with a woman. He’d been with his share of grownup girls, but not in some time, and he’d never been with a real woman, at least not one the caliber of Sierra Carlton. Somehow, she had a way of making him supremely aware of that fact. He rubbed his brow and chugged back the remaining brew in his cup.
Sierra reappeared wearing a bright yellow down jacket over her long-sleeved knit top and jeans. She was a woman who looked as good in jeans and boots and a fat, bushy ponytail as designer suits and more elaborate hairstyles. He wondered if she permed her hair and suppressed the urge to wrap a corkscrew curl at the nape of her neck around his finger as he followed her to the back door. They stepped down into a three-car garage that was empty except for her expensive sedan.
“We should take my truck,” he pointed out belatedly.
“Oh. Right. Should’ve thought of that. This way, then.” She led him through a side door and around the house to the front, where he’d parked his truck at the top of the graveled, circular drive.
He hadn’t bothered to lock up, and she was inside before he even had the chance to go for her door, which irked him mildly, though he told himself that equals didn’t bother opening doors for one another, even if one of them was female.
“Where’s the gate?” he asked, settling behind the wheel.
“Gate? The property’s only fenced on two sides. Is that a problem?”
“Naw, not really. Barbed wire will only keep the big critters out, anyway. We may want to string some chicken wire, though.”
“I’m beginning to realize how much I don’t know,” she muttered, reaching for her safety belt.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
He slid the key into the ignition and started the truck, but before he could put the transmission into gear, she reached across and clapped a hand over his forearm.
“Put on your seat belt first.”
The admonition flew through him. Before he could think, certainly before he could reason, he had shaken off her hand and snapped, “You may be my partner, but you aren’t my mother!”
Her mouth dropped open, and matching ire flashed in her blue-green eyes. “I’m not trying to be!”
“Aren’t you?”
“No! You’re in the car, you put a belt on.”
“You have to get over this age thing, Sierra, or we just can’t work together.”
“What has this got to do with age?” She threw up her hands. “You’ve spent the morning proving how invaluable you are. Is it so surprising that I don’t want you taking unnecessary chances with your personal safety?”
“We aren’t going to drive on the interstate.”
“If your sisters were in this truck, wouldn’t you expect them to buckle up?”
That set him back. If the girls had been in the truck, he’d have buckled his seat belt without even thinking about it, because he always did when they were with him and because he always insisted that they do the same. Maybe he’d gotten in the habit of not fastening the thing when he was working on the farm, but that was no excuse. He tamped down his unreasonable anger and felt embarrassment rise in its place. He closed his eyes, set his jaw, then made himself relax it again.
“You’re right.” He pulled the seat belt across him and shoved the hasp into the clip next to his hip, then he yanked the transmission into gear and set off down a track alongside the house, probably worn down during construction.
“You’re the one who has a problem with your age,” she grumbled.
“Well, if I do,” he retorted, “it’s because so many other people have shown me that it’s a problem for them.”
“I understand that,” she told him, “but I’m not one of them. So far you’ve demonstrated great maturity—despite that little outburst just now.”
He pointed a look at her. “And you didn’t have a little outburst just now?”
She looked away, one hand going to a curl that had worked its way free in front of her ear. “Well, yeah, I did.” She turned an impish smile on him. “But nobody’s ever accused me of demonstrating maturity.”
He laughed, resentment waning. “I like honesty in a woman.”
She cut her eyes at him. “I’ll try always to be honest with you, Sam.”
Desire slugged him straight in the groin. He jerked his gaze forward, then hunched over the wheel, silently cursing the restrictions of that belt. “Th-that’s good. Partners should be honest with one another.”
“We’re going to be good together. I know we are.”
He nearly burst his zipper. Abruptly, he guided the truck off the trail to the left, hoping that the buck and bounce of crossing rough ground would prove an adequate distraction for both of them.
Sierra pushed back into her seat. “What are you doing?”
“Just trying to get the lay of the land.”
So much for honesty.
“I’m not sure I should’ve let you talk me into this,” Sierra murmured, stepping up into the bank lobby with Sam at her side.
“The
